NATO

Nine European states—Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia—actively sought NATO membership, but NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson announced in May that there would be no new members before 2002. That month Croatia became the 24th member of the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace, and U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston took command of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. The historical animosities between NATO members Greece and Turkey erupted once again during a NATO military exercise in the Aegean Sea in October, which prompted Greece to withdraw its forces from the maneuvers. Spain held its last draft lottery, and the Spanish military was to be an all-volunteer force by the end of 2001. Several other European states reduced the terms conscripts had to serve in the armed forces.

United Kingdom

Bowing to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, the British government in January ended its ban on service in the armed forces by openly gay men and women. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a new code of social conduct for military personnel reflecting this change. As an interim measure to bolster its aging airlift fleet, the MoD announced in September that it would lease four American C-17 airlifters. Earlier in the year Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon had announced that the U.K. would ultimately purchase 25 A400M military transports being developed by the Airbus Military Co. Commitments from six other European nations for an additional 200 aircraft indicated that the international program would go ahead. All 12 of the Royal Navy’s attack submarines were withdrawn from service to inspect for and correct faults in their reactor cooling systems.

France

In July the contract was awarded for the construction of a fourth Le Triomphant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, to be named Le Terrible. It would be armed with the M51 ballistic missile due to enter service in 2008. Sea trials for the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle were postponed after it broke a propeller in November. The carrier replaced the Foch, which was sold to Brazil. In October the government announced that women would be able to serve in virtually any post in the army, except in the Foreign Legion.

Germany

In May Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping announced a major overhaul of the Bundeswehr, noting that it was still structured for Cold War scenarios and was not particularly suited for its contemporary crisis-management commitments. His plan called for 2003 troop levels to be reduced by 70,000 to 255,000 and the defense budget to be cut by 2.6%. Only 77,000 conscripts would be in the military, while all the armed forces would be open to female volunteers.

The Balkans

The Kosovo Force (KFOR), the NATO-led international force sent into Yugoslavia to enforce the fragile peace in Kosovo, a Serbian province in Yugoslavia, marked its first anniversary in June, and most observers believed this international military presence would be required for years to come. During the year KFOR reached its full strength of 50,000 men and women. Nearly 42,500 troops from more than 30 countries were deployed in the province, and another 7,500 provided rear support through contingents based in Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. From April until October, KFOR was commanded by Headquarters Eurocorps, led by Spanish Lieut. Gen. Juan Ortuño. A significant part of the Eurocorps staff moved from Strasbourg, France, to the KFOR Headquarters in Pristina, Kosovo; this marked the first time that NATO had entrusted command of an external operation to a unit that was not a part of its own integrated military structure. Thirty-three nations, of which 15 were not members of NATO, continued to provide troops to the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. A restructuring plan aimed to reduce SFOR from some 32,000 troops to approximately 20,000.

Turkey

In February the Kurdistan Workers’ Party announced that it was ending its war for self-rule within Turkey and instead would pursue its aims by peaceful means. Fighting subsided in the country’s southeastern provinces. In April, however, more than 5,000 Turkish troops, backed by jet fighters and combat helicopters, made another incursion into northern Iraq to combat Kurdish rebels there. In September a Turkish court acquitted journalist Nadire Mater of charges that she had insulted the military in a book about the war against Kurdish separatists. Dissatisfied with the high bids, Turkey postponed several major procurement programs. The largest was an estimated $7 billion contest to provide 1,000 new main battle tanks, the country’s most expensive defense purchase, which was put on hold in April.

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